Quidant, Romain
Full Professor
Engineering Sciences
ON LEAVE since 31/05/2020
Short biography
I received a PhD in Physics (2002) from the University of Dijon, in France. Right after defending my thesis, I joined ICFO as a postdoctoral researcher. This was the year of its creation and I was lucky enough to get actively involved into the early developments of the Institute. In 2006, I was appointed junior Professor (tenure-track) and group leader of the Plasmon NanoOptics group at ICFO. In 2009, I became tenure Professor both at ICFO and ICREA. While my core expertise is in fundamental nano-optics, I am very much interested in multidisciplinary research, interfacing physics with other disciplines of science, as well as in technology transfer. I am recipient of 4 ERC grants (StG2010, PoC2011, PoC2015 and CoG2015) and several international and national prizes (Fresnel2009, City of BCN2010, ICO2012, CAT2014, BS2017). Since 2019, I serve as the excecutive editor of ACSPhotonics (American Chemical Society).
Research interests
Our research focuses on nano-optics, at the interface between Photonics (the science of light) and Nanotechnology. We use the unique optical properties of nanostructures as an enabling toolbox to design solutions to scientific and technological challenges, in a wide set of disciplines, from fundamental physics to biotechnology and medicine. This makes our group highly multidisciplinary and involved in both basic and applied research. The most fundamental part of our work is mainly directed towards enhanced light/matter interaction and quantum physics. From a more applied viewpoint, our team investigates news strategies to control light and heat at the nanometer scale for biomedical applications, including lab-on-a-chip technology and targeted hyperthermia. We are also extensively involved in tech-transfer, with three technologies being incubated in the ICFO KTT Launch pad.